Chapter 10

“Sleep” spoke Nocturne and everyone on the table fell down. Even the servants fell down. All except one; Lord Ling.

“B-Basara! What is the meaning of this?!”

“My lord.” Spoke Nocturne, in an unholy voice, “You must have guessed the identity of that being” he said

“It is one of them… but what are you?” said the lord with a slight tone of worry on his face.

“So you took notice…”

The lord raised his brow before saying,

“I knew something was off the moment you managed to subdue the flames within my daughter, the way you speak the way you move and even the way you used magic. That is not something a kid of 14 years old can do, but I decided to remain quiet, I think that the kid is oblivious of your presence right?”

“Yes, he knows not I exist with him,”

I don’t know why Nocturne lied to the Lord but it seems that he did so for a reason.

“So you must be the reason behind his breakthroughs, am I right?”

“No, he did that on his own, he truly is talented… but let’s go back and focus on the main thing, I only have but moments left…” said Nocturne

“Yes, yes, I will be needing to get these two from the Selidor family into custody. To dare bring such abomination to my house is a crime…” said the lord almost seething with rage.

“You should not bother with trivia, these two were being manipulated, it is the reason why this abomination managed to infiltrate this deep. This one must be gifted in illusion and mind magic. Easing his way into the city… you need to first figure out who wants you dead, and why…” said Nocturne…

“Indeed, it must be mind manipulation… he would have used that on the guards to make them think he already passed the blood orbs… As for who wants me dead… I can’t keep count, Being righteous is becoming more of a liability than a good trait…” the lord even snorted at that statement before saying “but I will do my investigation… The problem is how am I going to explain this…”

“I would rather that my existence remains a secret… the rest I will take care off” said Nocturne as he summoned a black flame from his hand…”

“The flame of creation…” said Lord Ling while his face expressed worry, he still looked excited…

He knows about it…

“Interesting…” said Nocturne, he then swung his hand and the fire took over the blood stains and ended up with eating the corps of that being, not even ash remained.

Nocturne placed his hand over the head of the closest one to him, who was Lady Akari.

“What are you doing?!” asked Lord Ling, with a voice filled with seriousness… he even stood up, both his arms turned to a roaring flame, it was his daughter after all.

“Calm down… We do not want them remembering what just happened, it is traumatizing enough for your daughter to have witnessed this, consider this an act of mercy…”

“You will wipe her memory?” asked the lord while lessening the scorching heat coming from his arms.

“Alter it. wiping memories only make gaps in one’s mind, it will turn problematic later on, I will just erase the presence of that thing from their minds so that none would know what happened.”

“Carry on with it then…” he said fully expunging his flames

“You don’t trust me?” said Nocturne…

“I don’t,” replied the lord

“Good, and you should not, but I am all that you have now…”

Lord Ling gritted his teeth and waited for Nocturne to finish his job.

“It is done, the banquet will resume like nothing happened, do act the way and don’t let it show. And one last thing, make sure you teach this boy how to manipulate fire, for once he is ready, the flame of creation shall be his”

“I was never one to tolerate commands, only the king would be given that luxury… still you seem rather compelling... anyway, I won’t trust anyone besides a god with that flame, what makes you sure that I will not just outright kill him for it? I know many would do the same if they know he has it”

“First, because I know you are a just Lord and will not kill anyone so that you may have their possession. Second, this boy will never use this for anything he deems unnecessary, and lastly because I know you love your daughter so much, that this boy shall never be harmd…” said nocturne in an eerie voice

“You dare threaten me?” shouted the Lord

Nocturne could only smile while the white of his eyes turned darker than night.

“I don’t threaten, I deliver. For now let us remain allies, you should keep this child under your care, and I will promise that nothing shall ever bother your daughter, you know now that you are hated by many, and your daughter might be seen as an easy way to get to you, so I will be the one to protect her… consider it a job offer where lives are at stake”

“You really thought this through didn’t you,” said the Lord in a defeated tone.

“It is what it is…” said Nocturne and raised his hand, the people that fell down rose back up like puppets being led by invisible strings.

Nocturne took his place behind Lady Akari and said

“You are left to remember what happened not because I trust you, but because I know that you should remember that you now owe your life to this child, treat him well…”

Then he snapped his finger

Like if the world that was once frozen resumed, the people that were hanged by the invisible thread woke back up.

The Moment felt awkward, like when everyone in a room suddenly quieted down.

“So tell me Lady Sumia, what are your parents doing? I see you brought your uncles with you.”

“Ah, pardon me, I was distracted for a moment. Well, my parents went on a task by his majesty, they were tasked with being ambassadors to the Zangh kingdom”

“Oh, well I assume the treaty is going rather well for that the king of Zangh is actually accepting ambassadors right now”

“Yes, even more, the will be sending students to study at Visania this year, I assume they will be the elites,” she said with a smile that never left her face

“We can’t be too sure about their intentions, they might be spies for all we know…” said Fernand.

“We shouldn’t label them as spies before we see them, it is of bad character, we must first understand the reason behind their call for collaboration. The threat of those beings is looming over all of our heads… in these times cooperation is what will get us through difficulties” said Lady Akari.

For a girl her age, she truly does understand what is at stake, we should not bother with killing each other off, the true enemy is those beings… if she could have known how close she was at dying she would have truly felt the weight of her own words…

‘Nocturne…’ I said

‘Yes, master?’

‘It has been said that those beings don’t die that easy. It should have been an impossibility for anyone to kill them in one blow, normally they would reattach themselves and would rise back, but only one cut from you, and the thing died not even registering what happened… how did you do that?’

‘That weapon of mine cuts not only flesh… it severs the soul from its host, nothing no matter what it is as long that it is sentient, will fall down the moment the blade cuts through them…’

‘That is a rather horrifying weapon…’

‘A weapon worthy of the followers of the god of death don’t you think? Kekekeke’ said Nocturne as he laughed eerily.’

“Well lady Akari that is rather on point, I guess your father brought you up rather well, caring for other and only judging after you have seen everything, unlike our hasty and rash child,” said Fernand’s mother.

“Please don’t be so tough on sir Fernand lady Vanessa. Sir Fernand did what he deemed right, we all make mistakes don’t we?” she said

“What a great lady, look at her defending your honor Fernand, you are truly blessed for having been given the honor of asking her hand, even if it was thanks to the king’s blessing himself…”

Said Fernand's father

At this statement, I could sense lady Akari wincing a bit… was she not approving of this engagement?

“Would you please excuse me,” said Lady Akari as she moved away from the table. I even saw a tear on her…

‘Follow that girl! Now!’ said Nocturne.

And I did

“Why did you have to say such words you idiot!” said the wife of the man that just spoke.

‘What is it Nocturne? This does not concern us…’

‘It indeed does not, but her life is at stake, I only stabilized her flame, I did not cure her, she needs time for that, the fire of a dragon is power driven through sentiments, she is now saddened enraged and in desperation, all of these are strong emotions that will cause people to do stupid things…’

Once I was out I met Melinda who just tried to stop Lady Akari but got told off.

“What is going on?” asked Melinda

“My lady needs me…”

I said as I walked away from Melinda who could only utter a silent

‘Huh?’

I followed the running girl upstairs where she closed her room

“Lady Akari?” I asked as I knocked on the door

“Leave me alone!” she shouted

“I cannot, you must come out My lady, there is no need to dwell on these things”

“What would you know?” she shouted “What would an orphan servant knows?!” she added with a tone filled with hate…

That actually stung a bit. It was true, but still… ouch…

“I might be able to help?” I said not even knowing if I could truly help or not, but the nagging and impatience of Nocturne made me rather rash with words…

“How will you help? With your status? You are a nobody, this world is ruled with power, only being strong can help… not even my father one of the strongest in this country could, so how can you?”

“With time I can grow stronger, I will then help,”

“I don’t have time…” she said behind the door and I heard a thud… like if something was dropped, or someone fell

‘GET IT NOW!’ roared Nocturne

I tried to press on the door but it didn’t budge.

‘I can’t open this…’

‘I can’t take over your body anymore today else you will die…’

‘God damn it…

I tried breaking the door but it was sturdy as heck, I mean it was a wooden door with three inches thickness… something my frail body can’t manage to break right now…

I looked around and saw a sword hanging on the wall.

I picked it up and took a deep breath…

I managed to actively hone it and made it far sharper than normal

Using monochrome vision I saw the weaknesses of the door,

Right in the middle was a large red dot, it was the biggest weak point

I pressed gently with the honed tip of the blade and several weakpoints apeared once I tore through it.

I heard footsteps behind me as I continued on with my work.

“What are you doing Basara?!” cried out Lord Ling who was the one that came behind me.

“Opening the door, I Think Lady Akari is in trouble

“Let me do it! il burn it all!” said the lord as he ignited his hands

“Calm down sir! Lady Akari might get hurt, you seem rather rushed for someone that is calm all the time”

It seems that the wellbeing of his daughter is making him agitated…

I crossed the sword and the door collapsed, it was far easier than cutting through wood with a strand of grass…

Once inside I saw lady Akari on the ground, her body heating up like if it was on fire.

“What the hell is going on?! I thought she was cured...” said the lord

“No, she was only stabilized, let me try again…”

I dropped to my knee and held my right hand up, this was all under the guidance of Nocturne.

The black book appeared within my hand and it turned all the way to the ritual of guidance, how did I know its name I don’t have an idea… this was the same ritual that appeared when I cut my hand the first time I treated Lady Akari.

It was rather simple, take a feel of the energy of the person in question.

‘Place your hand on top of her abdomen’ said Nocturne.

‘Now use monochrome vision’ once I did I saw various weak points on Lady Akari, the largest of them were in the head and heart area.

‘The energy gathers in the abdomen it will go wild the more it is entrapped, you must see the energy to be able to guide it…’

‘I don’t know how to do it, I can only see the weak points’

‘See not with your eyes, but your mind’ he said

And I closed my eyes, though closed I was still able to somehow see…

After a moment I managed to see a torrent moving about, right between her ribcage and her waist.

It looked like a raging volcano of flame exploding, rebelling and trying to get freed… it was a contained monster…

‘Good, Now try to guide it, use the ritual, You only have one chance…’

…

I got a feel of the energy, it was similar to what I was assimilating when I was breathing in, only on a much, much larger scale…

I struggled on how to do it at first, then saw that I needed to link my energy to hers… something about being one…

I then tried to force my energy onto her, same as honing but not with the intent to sever, but to link…

Once I did her energy responded in kind, only it did not seek to link, it sought to burn me.

My hand began to heat up, I felt like it was on fire…

‘Don’t cut the feed, make it bend to your will, not by force for it shall devour you, but with guidance.’

He said

So I tried, I did not try to force the energy away from me, or into other parts of her body, but I lured it, it tried to eat away at me, so I only had to move my hand for the flame to follow. And I did make it follow from the abdomen I traced my hand all the way to her chest, her head along her other body parts…the torrent began to die down and circulate her body in a smoother way, yet it was not enough, she was still looking like if she was in pain.

“What is wrong?” asked The Lord…

“I-I don’t know… it seems that there is much more energy than last time… What has forced this fire to go berserk?”

“I-I don’t know…” said the Lord…

‘I know, it was the feeling of helplessness, not from the words spoken by that man, but by the event that happened earlier, that being that attempted to kill her father triggered something within her that caused her emotions to go on a rampage…’

‘But didn’t you erase her memories?’

‘I altered them, but emotions and memories are two different things, she must have remembered a trauma due to that event, I didn’t think it would cause this much of an effect… I can fix it, but you will die in the process as I will have to take over… but I cannot risk you to die for someone else…’

‘So you will just give up?!’ I shouted in my head.

‘There is nothing I can do…’

“God damn it!” these words, however, were vocal rather than internal… I didn’t cry out at Nocturne for that he helped as much as he could, I cried out because I was unable to do anything…

The girl still looked fragile, as ice melting in a dessert she was a goner…

The old man fell on his knees almost crying…

“My daughter!” he said “Please wake up! don’t leave me… not like your mother please…” he begged his unresponsive daughter…

‘Nocturne…’ I said

‘Yes…’

‘Is it possible to force the energy outside her?’

‘That is usually done by the person themselves, they need to be conscious for it, to release the surplus energy outside as a spell…’

‘What if I guide this energy towards me…’

‘I don’t know what will happen, in most you will burn to ash… but if you take just about the right amount… it is highly unlikely… but it just might work…’

“My lord… let me try something… I don’t know if it will work but it is the best shot we have…”

“Please help her! I will do anything I can for you, if you save her I will move mountains for your sake please!”

“You have done enough,” I said as I got closer to the unconscious girl.

“This is going to hurt…” I said as I moved my hand once again within her.

The torrent of energy responded in kind and moved towards my hand trying to eat it.

‘This is not working, the energy refuses to be released…’

‘I have never attempted or heard of anyone trying to do this, this is new to me… you are on your own…” said Nocturne

At least he doesn’t know everything, this removed the idea of him being an omnipotent being.

Well if it does not work like that… I might as well just…

I got my face closer to hers and opened her mouth… then got mine close to hers, I didn’t try to force my mouth onto hers, I just positioned it dangerously close to her lips…

God doing this in front of her father…

Breathing in, I called for the energy within her to come forth, and it did, like a parasite seeking another host it came running towards me, an air hotter than molten magma. I felt it burn through my throat and into my stomach and lungs.

Thoughts of regret passed through me as I was suffering the intolerable pain

‘Basara!!! You will die like this! I must stop you!’ cried out nocturne within my head

‘Don’t you dare! I can still manage it.’

I said as I sucked in more and more energy, it was like opening your mouth to a gushing river made of flame, it is too much too hot and too overwhelming, but still I persisted, my body burning I even thought that my organs were burning…

Why was I doing this? I could have just left her, no one would have questioned me, I already saved her once, why risk my life again?

Thoughts like these passed through my head while my body felt like if it was literally burning.

‘Stop! You did enough she is stabilizing! More than that and you will kill both of you!’ said Nocturne.

I closed my mouth and regressed back, my body burning up from intense heat.

My hands were spasming and my body shivering from an uncontrollable fever.

“Basara! What is wrong my boy?!” asked the lord in a panic

I was laying on my back next to Lady Akari while the lord was unable to figure out who should he tend for first, His beloved daughter whose case just stabilized, or the servant boy who was spasming next to her…

‘Release that energy!’ said Nocturne

‘Gladly!’ I spoke within my mind,

The pain was mind-numbing and at the same time maddening.

I exhaled out and the energy turned to an enormous breath of flame that scorched the ceiling of the room, there was so much of it that it broke through the roof and rose all the way to the heavens.

The Lord immediately took action forcing whatever flame that seeped out from devouring his house and at the same time protecting his daughter and himself.

That night was known as the dragon’s night

Where a dragon made of flame suddenly appeared atop the Ling’s manor Roaring out once before leaving the world of mortals…

“My boy! Are you alright?!” said the lord checking up on me

“Alright? I mean you don’t ever get to see someone breathing out fire… and something this huge… I am feeling rather amazed” I said as I laughed a little.

My body was in an inoperable state, I couldn’t even turn or move a muscle, but was still happy managing to do something like this…

‘This is but a fraction of what that girl is hosting, you managed to save her life and you gained something in return kid…’

‘Don’t tell me! I can breathe fire whenever I want?’ I said to Nocturne hoping that it was true…

‘No, something far deadlier than that… once you recover, I will show you… I thought it would take years, but with this energy that circulated through you… all of your spirit veins have opened, you will see the marvels of magic like none had ever done before… and I will be your guide…” he said as his voice disappeared in the background…

The future is far and holds many secrets, for now, a well-earned rest is all I need I thought to myself losing consciousness and surrendering to sleep…

To be continued